Tourism 2021 starts now

After the COVID-19 mess we went through in 2020 in terms of tourism numbers here, it looks like with the pandemic may be behind us. We are gearing up for a very big tourism and travel year in 2021.

Look at your calendar and you can see, with Memorial Day weekend upon us – the fun starts now.

Although our lake travel numbers were higher than most experts were expecting during the 2020 season and the surrounding COVID-19 numbers, being able to spend time in motels or in restaurants wasn’t available for the most part.

Still, it seems everyone bought boats or recreational vehicles.

Expect for that reason alone, coupled with the return of those tourists who sat last season out, this is going to be a busier than normal Memorial Day weekend on the highway and our two lakes, Dale Hollow Lake and Lake Cumberland.

With that said, here’s my annual sermon about giving ourselves, and our visitors, a little extra space on our highways and our waterways.

Everyone seems to be in a hurry these days, so take advantage of this holiday weekend, and the entire tourism season for that matter, to slow down just a little.

Give yourself a little extra time to get to your destination, be it on the road or on the water, and give yourself and our visitors a little extra space. We don’t understand their driving habits at all, and I can guarantee you that they are just as curious about ours.

These folks come here to get away from the big city and enjoy what many of us take for granted – our beautiful lakes and scenery.

The more important thing to remember is, they bring pockets full of money with them, and that feeds our economy, especially through the summer months.

They buy gas before they hit the water, and again before they begin that journey home. They usually don’t bring groceries with them from home, but instead stop at our local markets when they get here to stock up for the weekend, or sometimes even the week or longer.

Be nice – and hopefully our tourist visitors will not only stay a little longer, but just maybe they’ll come back and bring more friends, and money, with them.

After the year we’ve just gone through, with stores, restaurants and others suffering economically, we certainly need a good economic boost.

Most importantly, use common sense on our highways and waterways, and as I’ve said here each and every Memorial Day for many years, in the words of Sgt. Phillip Esterhaus as he sent his troops out into the streets in each episode of the long running police drama, Hill Street Blues ;

“Let’s be careful our there!”